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Travelogues => Travel Diaries => Topic started by: simato73 on April 29, 2018, 19:23:28

Title: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: simato73 on April 29, 2018, 19:23:28
Last weekend I went hiking with a large group of friends to the Isle of Skye in Scotland.
We do one such trip every year, usually in the late winter. This time it was in spring, only it did not feel like it on Skye.
We rented a large bunkhouse, did our food and hiked during the day. Hiking first, photography second, there was only another photographer in a group of 12 hikers.

While the vast majority of the British Isles basked in glorious sunshine, most of the time on Skye was overcast, or downright rainy/misty.

The first day, Friday, we hiked up Bla Bheinn, with its fabled view of the arch of the Black Cuillin laid in front. No such luck, drizzly rain and thick clouds were our companions most of the time, with visibility of a few tens of meters. The camera came out only half way during the descent, and here are some images from that section.

Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: Airy on April 29, 2018, 19:31:48
Good for us (not you) that the weather was misty and overcast. Great pics.
Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: Akira on April 29, 2018, 20:07:19
Good for us (not you) that the time was misty and overcast. Great pics.

Yes, indeed.  #4 is superb, but the others are no inferior.  Thank you for sharing!
Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: simato73 on April 29, 2018, 20:13:28
Yes, indeed.  #4 is superb, but the others are no inferior.  Thank you for sharing!
Good for us (not you) that the time was misty and overcast. Great pics.

Thank you both, very kind.
I still wish that I could offer you a westward view from the top of Bla Bheinn. I guess that means I have to go back! :)
Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: David Paterson on April 29, 2018, 20:25:44
Good work, Simone - you have managed superbly in very difficult conditions.
Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: Anthony on April 30, 2018, 00:09:57
Excellent photos in difficult conditions.
Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: Hugh_3170 on April 30, 2018, 04:00:43
Great stuff Simone. We all look forward to the images from your return trip to Skye.
Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: timh on April 30, 2018, 08:16:20
You made the most of the conditions. I like the contrast between misty and clear in the last one. The others are great too.
Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: simato73 on April 30, 2018, 08:40:53
Thank you all for your comments.
The same day driving back the sky opened up.
We briefly considering going up again (a 900 m  ascent) but immediately gave up the idea.
Instead I shot a small churchyard from the Clearances and some landscapes on the way back - in the latter case the wonderful light on the hills had disappeared by the time I found a place to stop.
Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye - day 2 photos added
Post by: simato73 on April 30, 2018, 20:18:59
Day two was by far the best, both in terms of weather and fun on the mountains: up the Black Cuillin!
We walked from our door to the northern end of the ridge, scrambling up the outlier Sgurr a' Bhasteir and then onto the main ridge summit of Bruach na Frithe.
In addition to the scrambling we had fun doing a traverse using crampons and ice axe; there was much more snow than I expected for this season, and only a week before it would have been a lot more, it just got wiped away in a warm and rainy week before our arrival.
The day was dry, mostly cloudy but clear, with a fair;y strong wind. Almost perfect.
And on the way back we saw a golden eagle (too far high to take a picture of it...)

1. Sgurr nan Gillean and Pinnacle ridge
2. Sgurr nan Gillean, Am Basteir and the Tooth
3. Looking back toward Sligachan
4. View from the main ridge toward the other side (SW, Elgol in the distance)
5. Hikers traversing below the Tooth of Am Basteir and Sgurr na Fionn Coire
6, 7. Scary peaks
8. Glamaig
9. The sky clears as we approach the end of the hike...
Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: Hugh_3170 on May 01, 2018, 01:48:48
Simone, I find that the greyness of the sky complements the starkness of the landscape.  Nos 4 and 8 are particularly bleak - not much vegitation - just rock.

Thanks again for these. 
Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: beryllium10 on May 01, 2018, 06:04:57
Did you perhaps stay at the Sligachan bunkhouse?  Your last photo looks like a view of Glamaig from near there.  I have visited several times to do geological work in the Red and Black Cuillins, and along the coast at The Storr. I have many cheerful memories of long days in the hills.  The mountains on Skye often seem much higher than they really are, with winds and weather to match.  Your sparsely lit photos, especially the telephoto perspectives, really capture it well.

Cheers,   John

Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: simato73 on May 01, 2018, 08:54:50
Did you perhaps stay at the Sligachan bunkhouse?  Your last photo looks like a view of Glamaig from near there.  I have visited several times to do geological work in the Red and Black Cuillins, and along the coast at The Storr. I have many cheerful memories of long days in the hills.  The mountains on Skye often seem much higher than they really are, with winds and weather to match.  Your sparsely lit photos, especially the telephoto perspectives, really capture it well.

Cheers,   John

Hi John,

you are correct, we stayed at the Bunkhouse, cracking place!
And I agree with your assessment of the mountains on Skye punching much above their height.
Thank you for the comments.
Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: simato73 on May 01, 2018, 08:57:14
Simone, I find that the greyness of the sky complements the starkness of the landscape.  Nos 4 and 8 are particularly bleak - not much vegitation - just rock.

Thanks again for these.

Thanks Hugh, the Black Cuillin of Skye are indeed some of the roughest patch of land I've ever seen.
Not many trees on Skye - not much topsoil for them to grow!
Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: David Paterson on May 01, 2018, 22:54:22
Terrific. You have exceeded my highest expectations by a long mile.
Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: Akira on May 01, 2018, 22:56:36
The church area looks awesome!  I also like the very last shot: the clouds look gorgeous!
Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: simato73 on May 02, 2018, 12:02:37
The church area looks awesome!  I also like the very last shot: the clouds look gorgeous!
Terrific. You have exceeded my highest expectations by a long mile.

Thank you both, Akira and David.
Your opinion matters to me because I often find your taste is similar to mine.
Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: Jakov Minić on May 02, 2018, 12:16:36
Simone, that last one with the clouds and their shadows on those beautifull shaped mountains is jaw dropping!
Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: simato73 on May 02, 2018, 12:18:42
Another picture added from the same day, I like its leaden colours.
In it you can see the little boat that takes you from Elgol to Loch Coruisk, heading back.

Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: simato73 on May 02, 2018, 12:20:06
Simone, that last one with the clouds and their shadows on those beautifull shaped mountains is jaw dropping!

If only we had that light and those clouds for the whole duration of the hike!
Instead, it cleared only at the end.
Even so, I cannot complain about the weather on that day, it was the best we got.
As you will soon see, the following day was the worst...
Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: simato73 on May 02, 2018, 12:52:34
Now some from the last day, Sunday.
It was a miserable day, strong rain and wind all day, so the Cuillins were out.
We went instead to the Quiraing in far north. While much lower in elevation, the Quiraing has a strong almost magical feeling to it, with its cliffs and pinnacles.
Everyone who has seen tourism board pictures of Skye has seen pictures of the Quiraing.
The ones that follow would not feature in any advertisement for tourists, they would all run away to sunnier places!
By the end of the hike the rain had defeated my waterproof clothing and soaked through all layers, down to the skin. A very wet day indeed...

1, 2. The pinnacles in the Prison
3. The Prison from above
4. Looking NE toward Fingal's Pinnacles from the Quiraing
5. Looking S onto the Trotternish Ridge
6, 7. Kilt Rock waterfall
8. The coast S of Kilt Rock
Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: John Geerts on May 02, 2018, 13:43:01
Very impressive Simone !!

I like especially the first pinnacle shot.
Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: Jakov Minić on May 02, 2018, 15:07:27
The last batch is the most exciting. You did well, my friend! What a great advertisment for Scotland!
Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: David Paterson on May 02, 2018, 18:49:55
You did exceptionally well - I was going to say "in those conditions", but there is no need for the qualifier - most of these images transcend the conditions and are beautiful measured against any scale.
Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: Øivind Tøien on May 03, 2018, 01:07:59
The two first ones are really impressive. With good weather you would have lost this opportunity. I took the liberty to try, and a quick vertical stitch of those two in ICE worked really well and resulted in an even more dramatic image.
Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: simato73 on May 03, 2018, 13:35:14
The two first ones are really impressive. With good weather you would have lost this opportunity. I took the liberty to try, and a quick vertical stitch of those two in ICE worked really well and resulted in an even more dramatic image.

Good idea, thanks for suggesting it, I will try it at home.
Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: Akira on May 03, 2018, 14:23:39
I enjoy the dynamic landscapes from the latest series.  #3 and #5 are my favorites.  Thank you for sharing!
Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: Akira on May 03, 2018, 14:28:50
The two first ones are really impressive. With good weather you would have lost this opportunity. I took the liberty to try, and a quick vertical stitch of those two in ICE worked really well and resulted in an even more dramatic image.

I also had the same idea.  The Photomerge in CC2018 combined with the geometric correction in ACR worked nicely as well.
Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: simato73 on May 03, 2018, 22:26:45
The two first ones are really impressive. With good weather you would have lost this opportunity. I took the liberty to try, and a quick vertical stitch of those two in ICE worked really well and resulted in an even more dramatic image.

Thank you for the idea, this is my product:
Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: Hugh_3170 on May 04, 2018, 05:00:45
Yes - a good outcome.

This reminds me of parts of NZ's southern alps - including the cold and the wet!
Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: Øivind Tøien on May 04, 2018, 05:42:50
Yes - a good outcome.

+1
Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: Akira on May 04, 2018, 05:57:47
Yeah, the stitched image looks better!
Title: Re: A short foray to the Isle of Skye
Post by: simato73 on May 04, 2018, 08:09:57
Thank you,  gents!